Everything about Lawton Oklahoma totally explained
Lawton is a city in and the
county seat of
Comanche County,
Oklahoma,
United States. It is the principal city of the Lawton, Oklahoma
Metropolitan Statistical Area. Founded in 1901, Lawton lies in southwestern Oklahoma, near the
Wichita Mountains. Lawton is the cultural and commercial center of the area. Lawton is home to large
granite deposits as well as cotton fields.
Fort Sill,
Fort Sill Indian School, and
Medicine Park are all nearby. The population was 92,757 at the
2000 census.
Geography
Lawton is located at (34.609424, -98.417781), southwest of
Oklahoma City.
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 75.1 square miles (194.6 km²), all of it land.
Lawton is located south of the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge, Mount Scott, and Lake Lawtonka.
Lawton is named for
Major General Henry Ware Lawton (1843-1899),
Civil War Medal of Honor recipient, killed in action during the
Spanish-American War, at the Battle of San Mateo in the
Philippines.
Establishment and history through WWII
Southwest Oklahoma was the home for many Native American tribes due to the natural resources provided by the nearby outcropping of ancient granite now called the
Wichita Mountains, with water, wildlife, vegetation, in abundance. This area is now the
Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, a
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Refuge. Lawton’s history is inextricably tied to
Fort Sill, established in 1869 during the hostilities in the
Indian Territory.
This land was granted to the
Comanche,
Kiowa, and
Apache tribes by the
Medicine Lodge Treaty of 1867, which continued warring against the military until Comanche Chief
Quanah Parker and his Quohada Comanches abandoned the struggle and arrived at Fort Sill in June 1875.
In 1891 the United States Congress appointed a commission under David H. Jerome to meet with the tribal leaders and come to an agreement allowing white settlement. Under pressure from the commission, Quanah Parker and the other Native American tribal leaders initially agreed to give the government control of the lands for $1.25 per acre. Each tribal member would receive a allotment, with reserved for grazing land for white cattle ranchers. After years of controversy and legal maneuvering on both sides, President
William McKinley issued a proclamation which gave the government control over for less than $1 per acre.
Upon completion of a survey, three sites were designated as the town sites for the county seats for the Kiowa, Caddo, and Comanche Counties. Lawton was the Comanche County site, named for General
Henry W. Lawton, who had been quartermaster at Fort Sill and part of the pursuit and capture of
Geronimo. The
Apache leader was moved with Chiricahua prisoners of war to Fort Sill in 1894, under the direction of Captain H.L. Scott. Geronimo was jailed at the Old Post Guardhouse, and he remained in the area until his death on February 17, 1909.
Few American cities have sprung up overnight. The five
land runs in
Indian Territory from 1889 to 1895 led to violence, fraud, and legal disputes. It was decided to open El Reno and Lawton with lotteries. On July 29, 1901, a lottery began in
El Reno, Oklahoma to determine the order for filing the homestead claims. By October 1901, 5,895 homesteaders had filed claims at the Fort Sill land office.
The town was divided into 66 blocks, to be sold at auction. Two of the original homestead claims directly south of the for Lawton were filed by James Woods and Mattie Beal, known as the Woods Addition and Beal Addition to the original Lawton plat.
On August 6, 1901, the auction of town lots began, ending sixty days later. A tent city had grown up in anticipation of the auction, and banks, saloons, stores and other service industries sprang up overnight. Within one year, there were 100 saloons. Gambling was epidemic until outlawed on Nov 16, 1907, coincident with the establishment of the State of Oklahoma. The
Rock Island Railroad expanded, rolling into Lawton on September 25, 1901, joined soon thereafter by the
Frisco Line.
The influx and rapid population expansion led to a series of public health crises, water shortage, and lawlessness. The first city elections were held October 24, 1901, and Leslie Price Ross was elected mayor, with voting restricted to the few who had resided in the area for over a year. One of the original two newspapers, the Lawton Daily Democrat, became the forerunner of the Lawton Constitution, which was established in 1911. In 1949, the Lawton Constitution acquired the Morning Press, and today serves southwest Oklahoma.
The First Presbyterian Church of Lawton, at 8th Street and D Avenue, was constructed in 1902, and remains the oldest public structure remaining in Lawton. It is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places. On January 2, 1902, four public schools opened. The first class of six graduated in 1903 from Lawton High School. Cameron State Agricultural School (now
Cameron University) convened on November 16, 1909, in the basement of the First National Bank at 302 C Avenue. In March 1911 classes were transferred to the current location on West Gore. The Mattie Beal-Payne mansion at Fifth and Summit was built in 1908, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The demographic makeup of Lawton at its founding reflected a mix of white settlers from states near and far, the indigenous Native Americans, who generally lived outside the town, but were highly visible, often in traditional clothing as they did business in town, and a smaller African-American population.
The United States entry into
World War I accelerated growth at Fort Sill and Lawton. The availability of five million gallons of water from Lake Lawtonka, just north of Fort Sill, provided the impetus for the War Department to establish a major cantonment named
Camp Doniphan, active until 1922. The population doubled from about 8,800 to 17,600 as more than 50,000 soldiers passed though in training. By 1920, the city population declined again to 8,830.
In 1911 The School of Fire for the Field Artillery was opened at Fort Sill and it continues to operate today as the U.S. Army
Field Artillery School.
From the
stock market crash of October 1929, through the end of the 1930s, dust storms, severe winter weather, unemployment and poverty created severe economic challenges for Lawtonians. The decision at the end of 1930 to permanently locate the U.S. Army Field School at Ft Sill ended 20 years of indecision and kicked off a round of construction. Fort Sill commanders played a vital role in the implementation of
Civilian Conservation Corps and
Works Progress Administration projects throughout the 1930s. Some of the major projects included work on dams and buildings at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, the County Courthouse, Roosevelt Stadium (Now called Ron Stephens Stadium), the road to the summit of Mount Scott, and the Holy City of the Wichitas, among others.
Post-WWII Lawton
Following World War II, Lawton enjoyed rapid and steady population growth. From 1930 to 1940, population increased from 18,055 to 34,757, and by 1960, it reached 61,697. In the 1950s, significant public facilities were built, including the new Lawton High School, the airport, the McMahon Auditorium, the National Guard Armory, and groundbreaking for the Museum of the Great Plains.
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 92,757 people, 31,778 households, and 22,530 families residing in the city. The
population density was 1,234.5 people per square mile (476.6/km²). There were 36,433 housing units at an average density of 484.9/sq mi (187.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 61.34%
White, 23.06%
African American, 3.81%
Native American, 2.46%
Asian, 0.44%
Pacific Islander, 3.96% from
other races, and 4.93% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 9.40% of the population.
There were 31,778 households out of which 39.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.7% were
married couples living together, 15.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.1% were non-families. 24.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.12.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.8% under the age of 18, 15.3% from 18 to 24, 31.4% from 25 to 44, 16.3% from 45 to 64, and 9.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 108.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 110.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $32,521, and the median income for a family was $37,831. Males had a median income of $27,573 versus $21,623 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $15,397. About 14.2% of families and 16.3% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 22.2% of those under age 18 and 10.8% of those age 65 or over.
Transportation
Lawton is served by
Interstate Highway 44, which is also designated as the
H.E. Bailey Turnpike and connects the city with
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to the northeast and
Wichita Falls, Texas to the south. The city is also served by U.S. Highways 62, 277 and
281, and State highways 7 and 36, which connect Lawton with other locations in and out of Southwest Oklahoma.
The
Lawton-Fort Sill Regional Airport offers commuter airline flights to
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and will soon be offering direct flights to
Atlanta.
Lawton is also served by the
Lawton Area Transit System
Media
Lawton television affiliates are in association with the
Wichita Falls,
Texas media market.
Points of interest
Fort Sill, built in the 1860s (includes Geronimo's gravesite)
Meers and the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge
Mount Scott
The Comanche Nation(External Link)
The village of Medicine Park on Oklahoma 49.
Cameron University
Museum of the Great Plains
Notable people from Lawton
Marcus Henry, - Wide receiver for the National Football League's New York Jets.
D.J. Wolfe, - Free safety for the National Football League's Atlanta Falcons.
Randy Bass, Former Major League Baseball player, Democratic State Senator
Larry Birdine, professional football player for the Denver Broncos
Don Blanding, artist & poet
Grady Brewer, professional boxer, TV's "The Contender" boxing champion
Jammal Brown, professional football player
Martin Chase, professional football player
C. J. Cherryh, Hugo Award-winning author
Joan Crawford, Academy Award-winning actress
Benjamin Curtis, former guitarist for The Secret Machines
Brandon Curtis, keyboardist, bassist, and lead singer for The Secret Machines
Conrad Herwig, Grammy nominated jazz trombonist
Stephen Hillenburg, creator and executive producer, SpongeBob SquarePants
Robert S. Johnson, WWII ace with 27 kills
Stacey King, former professional basketball player
Mike Minter, professional football player for the Carolina Panthers
N. Scott Momaday, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
Lauren Nelson, Miss America 2007
Antonio Perkins, professional football player
Leon Russell, singer and songwriter
Will Shields, professional football player
Kelly Stinnett, professional baseball player
Evo Terra, podcaster and writer
Bryan White, country music singer
Grady (Bad Boy) Brewer, 2007 ESPN Winner "The Contender"
Sister Cities
Güllesheim, Rhineland-Palatinate
Ft. Sill, OklahomaFurther Information
Get more info on 'Lawton Oklahoma'.
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